


Shattered Dreams (A Sticky Tragedy)

by thestarsthesea



Series: But do you feel like a young God? - (Drabble Series) [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff, M/M, poor Niall aw :'(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-12
Updated: 2015-09-12
Packaged: 2018-04-20 09:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4781726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestarsthesea/pseuds/thestarsthesea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>PROMPT: you found me crying on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night surrounded by a shattered jelly jar</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shattered Dreams (A Sticky Tragedy)

Zayn's not sure exactly what wakes him up, he just has this nagging feeling that he should be awake. And he’s sure he finds the reason why when he turns over to curl into Niall, just to find empty sheets.

Now, Niall's not like Zayn, he doesn't take every opportunity he can to sleep, but he _does_ enjoy it. Zayn doesn't think he knows a time that Niall's been awake before sunrise without being forced to be. Plus they're jetlagged as hell coming off a tour, Zayn knows for a fact Niall's been up for 21 hours with no naps. So he shakes off as much sleepiness as he can and sits up, shivering at the cold air that rushes over his bed-warm skin.

He braces himself and gets up, flinching a little as his feet touch the icy floor. He grabs the nearest pair of pants, hoping he won't need a shirt, and wanders out of the room.

He checks the spare room, where Niall keeps his guitars and most of his music stuff, but comes up empty. He peeks into the living room, thinking maybe Niall couldn't sleep and wanted some white noise, but he's not there either.

The only other place in the house Niall would ever be tempted to be this late at night would be the kitchen. So, Zayn turns and shuffles his way further down the hall, coming to the kitchen doorway almost silently. He sticks his head in, at first seeing nothing, but then he hears a small little sniffle.

He panics, thinking maybe Niall somehow hurt himself, and practically flings himself into the room, but he stops short when he realises what's going on.

Niall sits in the middle of the floor, on his knees and hunched over mournfully; surrounding him are large shards of glass, and the sticky remains of Niall's favourite apricot jelly. He's clearly crying, cheeks wet and blotchy red, these small little hiccups coming out of his throat with every other inhale.

Zayn fights to hold in a giggle. It's not funny that Niall's crying, of course, it's just funny it's over _apricot jelly_. Niall's literally so tired he's crying over _jelly_.

And it's with that thought Zayn sobers, Niall's clearly _exhausted_. He steps closer, careful to stay out if the glass and tacky jelly. "Oh, Niall, love, what happened?" He kneels down, reaching out to wipe at a stray tear on Niall's cheek.

Niall takes deep shuddering breath, glossy eyes focusing blearily on Zayn. "I just wanted to make some toast but I dropped the jar and now it's a mess and I still want toast but I can't have any without apricot jelly and it's huh-horrible." He sniffles pitifully, and his voice is so teary and defeated that Zayn's heart breaks a little.

Zayn leans forward, sliding the hand still resting on Niall’s cheek around to cup the back of his neck, stroking his thumb along Niall's hairline (in that secret way he likes when he wants comfort).

Niall sniffles and leans into it, closing his eyes, his tears have quietly stopped. Zayn grins softly, damn is he cute, even blotchy, visibly exhausted, and covered in jelly at 4am.

Zayn pulls his hand up through Niall's disheveled hair, reaching down to catch one of Niall's sticky hands instead. "C'mon love, let's get you to bed, hm?" Niall's little chin wobbles and he looks around at the mess on the floor, and Zayn almost coos. _Almost_. He smiles softly instead. "C'mon on, babe, I promise we'll have apricot jelly for your toast in the morning." They will, even though Zayn will have to get up early and slip out to get it.

Niall hesitates but nods, deciding that that's good enough. Zayn stands, reaching down to pull Niall up as well. He carefully steps closer, watching for glass and jelly, and stops right in front of a very precariously standing Niall. Zayn turns, bending down slightly, mumbling for Niall to hop on his back. Niall stares at him, confused, but eventually understands, clumsily jumping so Zayn can catch him and pull him on properly.

Zayn wades through the mess, making a note of how he'll have to remember to come clean it once Niall's finally asleep. But Niall is sleep heavy and so warm against his back, holding unconsciously tight to Zayn's shoulders, breathing becoming slower against Zayn's neck, so he pays no attention to it now.

Zayn deposits Niall on the bed when they get back to their room, settling him gently onto the chilled sheets. He runs to the bathroom for a wet hand towel, returning to find Niall flopped onto his back, arms stretched at his side and eyes unfocused but still following Zayn. He grins, tugging off Niall's dirty sweat pants, then moves to wipe the sticky jelly off his fingers and arms.

Once he's done, he encourages Niall to move and lie properly on the bed, having to pull and push him mostly into place. Once Niall's under the covers Zayn crawls in next to him, spooning up to Niall's back and tucking an arm around his side. He rubs his thumb back and forth over Niall's heart, humming the first song to come to mind ([...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3JJxS0gNkE)), watching as Niall grins slightly and his eyes close.

Zayn doesn't stop humming until Niall's breathing is deep, his body soft, mouth parted on heavy breaths. He slowly and carefully extricates himself from Niall, barely breathing in case he wakes back up. But Niall's dead to the world, doesn't even twitch.

Zayn pads back into the kitchen, turning on the overhead light to stare at the mess. There's tacky orange jelly splattered to almost every corner, and glass shards sticking out of gross globs of congealed spread. He sighs, going to the closet for a mop and broom, resigning himself to his sticky fate.

~*~~*~

The next morning Niall surprises him with breakfast in bed: perfect toast with butter, apricot jelly, and a kiss sweeter than the jelly could ever be. It's the best breakfast Zayn's ever had. 

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt my friend Emma sent me. She's terrible, just the worst.... Nah she's gr8, mostly. ;)  
> Anyway, as a heads-up, all of these titles are the absolute lamest. Mostly because I never planned on sharing these with anyone besides her (Emma), and my creative well is slightly dry at the moment, so coming up with better ones seems like quite a chore haha.
> 
> Also, idek if there _is_ such thing as apricot jelly. Or if Niall even likes apricots. I just figured, well, they make jelly out of everything right? (I mean bacon jelly? Really?) Plus I like the word "apricot" sooo, lol.
> 
> Disclaimer: Owning people is slavery and that is bad. And I am a _very_ good girl.
> 
> Also, none of my work is ever beta'd. Should I have one? Probably. Will I ever seek one out? Nah.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys! <33


End file.
